Allen Frances Takes on the Over-Prescription of Antidepressants
The prominent psychiatrist explores why antidepressants remain highly overprescribed and offers solutions to the problem.
Retraction Watch and HealthNewsReview.org Get Large Grants to Expand
Early in December, HealthNewsReview.org announced receipt of a $1.3 million grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to re-start and significantly expand its operations. And in late December Retraction Watch announced that it had received $400,000 from the MacArthur Foundation. Both websites specialize in monitoring and reporting on poor practices in science, medicine and psychiatry.
Increasing Mental Health Diagnoses of Youth, by Non-Psychiatrist MDs
The mental health care of young people has increased more rapidly than that of adults, and has coincided with increased psychotropic medication use, according...
WSJ Hosts Debate on Depression Screening
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently issued a controversial recommendation that all adolescent and adult patients undergo depression screening in primary care. The...
Benzodiazepine Use Linked to Dementia and Memory Loss
A recent review of the research found that benzodiazepine use may have long-term effects on memory and increase the risk for dementia. The study,...
A Blueprint for an ‘Ecosocial’ Person-Centered Psychiatry
New article pushes for a shift from a psychiatry centered on brain circuitry toward an 'ecosocial' view of mind, brain, and culture.
“A Word to the Wise About Ketamine”
Commentary in the American Journal of Psychiatry cautions that the “unbridled enthusiasm” about Ketamine as a "miracle cure" for depression "needs to be tempered...
The Economist Unwraps the DSM
The Economist, in its upcoming edition, says of the DSM "No other major branch of medicine has such a single text, with so much...
Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicides, May Increase Risk
When the CDC released data revealing an increasing suicide rate in the US, some experts, speaking to major media outlets, speculated that the increase...
When Attempts to Localize Global Mental Health Miss the Mark
Researchers find that efforts to integrate the Cambodian idiom baksbat (broken courage) into local mental health care may have served to pathologize adaptive responding.
Researchers Call for Reappraisal of Adverse Mental Effects of Antipsychotics, NIDS
In a study published yesterday, researchers from the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo bring attention to a condition known as neuroleptic-induced deficit syndrome (NIDS)...
Excessive Mood & Behavior Arousal in Juveniles Treated with Antidepressants
In a study of 6,767 reports of antidepressant trials in juveniles treated for depressive and anxiety disorders, the risk of psychopathological behavioral or mood...
Glaxo Claims Contrition and Changes in its Sales Practices
Following a record-setting spate of settlements, GlaxoSmithKline North America President Dierdre Connelly touts Glaxo's move away from a sales model that encourages the misbehavior...
Most Media Health Stories Pump Positives, Minimize Harms
A "Special Communication" by HealthNewsReview.org publisher Gary Schwitzer published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reports that most news media present very...
Germanwings Pilot Allowed to Fly Based on Psychiatrist’s Letter
The pilot who deliberately crashed a Germanwings commercial airplane was questioned by the Federal Aviation Administration and denied a license to fly. The Agency...
ADHD Drugs Compensate for a Deficit of Attention to Schools
The New York Times describes a growing trend among doctors: prescribing medication to fix a "made up" diagnosis in children, in order to compensate...
Perspectives on Neuroimaging
A study in BMC Psychiatry explores a range of perspectives on the value of neuroimaging studies for disorders of mental health. The study concludes...
SSRI Antidepressants Increase Surgery Risks
There is accumulating evidence that taking SSRI antidepressants increases the risk of bleeding and other complications during surgery, according to a review published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia.
Some Common Psychiatric Medications Associated With Pneumonia
Pneumonia cases in the elderly are strongly associated with use of anticholinergic medications, including benzodiazepines and tricyclic antidepressants.
Parents’ Goals Affect Choice of Medication vs. Behavior Therapy
Researchers find that parents who are focused on their child's academic achievement are twice as likely to start the child on ADHD medications as...
Dr. Oz Takes on Big Pharma
Dr. Oz looks at the research on antidepressants today, finding that they are over-prescribed, may be counter-productive or harmful, may not work at all,...
Pervasive Industry Influence in Healthcare Sector Harms Patients
Experts across the globe point to the harms of drug companies’ influence on research, practice, and education in healthcare noting that it compromises patient care.
Barriers to Shared Decision Making in the Prescription of Antipsychotics
Researchers push for a renewed focus on true shared decision-making for patients diagnosed with psychosis.
Antidepressants Linked to Heart Arrhythmias
Researchers from the Mass General and Brigham & Women's Hospitals and the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine find, using data from electronic health records...
“You Keep Giving Adderall to my Son, You’re Going to Kill Him”
The New York Times, in an extraordinarily lengthy front-page article, chronicles the descent of popular college class president, athlete, and aspiring medical student into...
